Ornament Music

Musical ornaments, often described as embellishments, are decorative additions to a melodic or harmonic line. They enhance expressiveness, introduce variety, and provide the performer with the means to shape interpretation. Although ornaments are not indispensable to the underlying structure of a composition, they enrich the musical texture and are central to performance traditions across historical periods and regions. Ornaments typically appear as rapid notes surrounding a principal pitch, ranging from brief grace notes to elaborate virtuosic passages such as extended trills. Their use varies considerably: ornamentation was abundant in Baroque music from approximately 1600 to 1750, whereas later periods often employed it more sparingly. In French musical traditions, the term agrément refers specifically to the characteristic ornamentation style.

Improvised and written ornamentation

During the Baroque era, performers were expected to supply additional ornaments appropriate to the harmony, style, and expressive intent of the music. In genres such as the da capo aria, a singer customarily presented the initial section with minimal decoration but introduced improvised embellishments when the section was repeated, often adding trills, mordents, and passing flourishes. Similarly, keyboard players, particularly harpsichordists, were expected to realise simple melodic lines with stylistically suitable ornaments in real time.
Composers may also indicate specific ornaments. Standardised symbols exist for many recognised types, while others may be written out as small auxiliary notes or fully sized notes. Composers frequently developed personal vocabularies of ornamentation, often explained in prefaces or performance instructions. A grace note—customarily printed in a smaller typeface—signals an added pitch whose value does not contribute to the measured time of the bar. In broader usage, the term may refer to any small printed note associated with ornamentation. Historically, Spanish musicians used the term división for melodic embellishment upon repetition, a practice documented as early as 1538 in vihuela music.

Trill

The trill, also known as a shake, is a rapid alternation between the written note and the note immediately above it. In simple contexts, the notes used are diatonic; in other cases, the trill may incorporate chromatic alterations. Trills are typically indicated by the abbreviation tr or by a wavy line extending over the note.
In Baroque notation, a small cross may serve as the symbol. By the late eighteenth century, the standard performance practice was to begin the trill on the upper auxiliary note. Some theorists, including Heinrich Christoph Koch, noted that the difference in starting note produced minimal audible contrast once the trill was underway. In many traditions, the trill concludes with a turn-like figure, sounding the lower neighbour before resolving to the main note. Variations may appear as small appended grace notes. A distinctive form, the single-note trill (trillo or tremolo), was idiomatic for early bowed string playing and involved rapid reiteration of a single pitch.

Mordent

A mordent is a swift alternation between a principal note and its neighbouring pitch. In modern terminology, the upper mordent involves alternation with the note above; the lower mordent or inverted mordent involves the note below. Symbols resemble short, thick tildes, with the lower mordent distinguished by a vertical stroke through the sign.
Historically, terminology varied widely. In German and Scottish contexts, mordant referred to what is now considered a lower mordent. During the Baroque period, mordents might involve more than one alternation, producing an effect akin to an inverted trill. They often began with an inessential added note rather than the principal pitch. Chromatic modifications of the auxiliary note were common, depending on tonal context and harmonic requirements.

Turn

The turn, also known by its Italian name gruppetto, is a four-note figure comprising the upper auxiliary note, the main note, the lower auxiliary note, and the main note again. It is typically shown as a sideways S-shaped symbol placed above the staff. Execution depends on the symbol’s position relative to the principal note and on stylistic conventions. The rhythm and speed of the turn vary with context, tempo, and aesthetic practice. Inverted turns, beginning with the lower auxiliary, are marked by adding a short vertical stroke to the standard symbol or by inverting the sign entirely. Auxiliary pitches may be chromatically raised or lowered as required by harmonic circumstances.

Appoggiatura

The appoggiatura is an accented ornamental note that delays the entry of the main note by borrowing some of its time value. It is a melodically significant dissonance, usually approached by a leap and resolved by a step in the opposite direction. The auxiliary pitch lies one scale degree above or below the principal note and may be chromatically inflected. Appoggiaturas typically fall on the strong beat and are emphasised accordingly. In notation, they often appear as small notes without a slash, placed immediately before the main note.

Acciaccatura

The acciaccatura originates from the Italian acciaccare, meaning “to crush”. In eighteenth-century practice, it was applied to chord tones, introducing a dissonant auxiliary pitch either a semitone or tone below the target pitch. The note was struck simultaneously with the chord and released immediately, producing a brief percussive effect. In German theory, this was known as the Zusammenschlag, or “together-stroke”. By the nineteenth century, the acciaccatura evolved into its modern form, represented by a small note with a diagonal stroke, played very quickly before the main note, functioning as a fleeting grace note.

Contextual variation and historical performance

Ornamentation is shaped by performance tradition, national style, and historical period. French Baroque composers specified elaborate systems of ornaments, carefully codified in tables and treatises. Italian and German composers often expected performers to supply embellishment according to convention rather than notation. Across these traditions, the interpretation of symbols, the choice of starting note, and the rhythmic placement of ornaments depended on contemporary stylistic norms.